My best almost-present

Jen here again!  One of my best not-presents this year is cookbook that belonged to my sister-in-law, Romi.  Romi completed a culinary arts course in Salt Lake, and she was able to work in the industry in the years before she passed away.  I just discovered that some of her books are at my in-law’s [...]

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Baked Brown Rice

Jen here again.  I just finished throwing this in the oven after church today and thought I’d share.  Around two years ago, I found 28-ounce bags of long grain brown rice on sale for a $1 a bag.  I bought a lot and I’ve been storing them in the freezer to maintain freshness longer (brown [...]

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Gra Bars [aka homemade granola bars]

Several years ago, we lived in my brother’s basement. Upstairs were two rowdy toddlers and the older one had a great love for “gra bars”. We usually had store bought ones and he would gobble them up. As I become more and more interested in learning to make all of my food, not just because [...]

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Yay for Santa

Santa brought me cheesemaking supplies from here. Tomorrow night will be the maiden voyage into homemade mozzarella. We’ll be having it on pizza. Yummy. Keep an eye out for pictures.
With Matt home, we’re working on projects around the house and in the kitchen we’re focusing on using up the Ham and other treats. Tonight is [...]

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Holiday Morning French Toast

This recipe is our yearly Christmas morning breakfast. It is a favorite for our whole family.
Holiday Morning French Toast
3 Tart Apples, peeled and sliced thin
1 c. brown sugar (or 1/2 c.)
1/2 c. melted butter
3 tsp. cinnamon divided 1:2
1/2 c. raisins or dried cranberries
1 loaf of french bread in 1 in. slices
6 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1 [...]

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Security, and next year’s garden

Gardening is a strange thing to consider with snow falling all around. Gardening … now? But as I go through this, you’ll probably begin to understand why.
I walked around my house looking for things that I treasured. It didn’t stop at my umpteen pairs of shoes, or my computer, or my checkbook (we don’t really [...]

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Jam Thumbprints

I will not lie and say I am so creative and inventive that I come up with most of my own recipes. That would be a big, fat lie. I borrow, beg, and steal. BUT I am a firm believer in the fact that when someone says they can’t cook, it’s that they won’t cook. [...]

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Sweet Potato Fun

Jen here!  No recipes today, just evidence that simple food can be fun.  We got sweet potatoes (light-skinned, not garnets) recently, and I roasted them up on Friday morning.  Just pricked them with a fork, put on a foil covered baking sheet, and threw them in a 375F oven, along with the spaghetti squash I [...]

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Christmas Biscotti

I have spent a lot of time recently trying to make a biscotti that I really liked. Why? Who knows. Maybe I like the crunch, and maybe I like that they are cookies that last a really long time, and in our house, that is important. I have borrowed, tried, and modified a few recipes, [...]

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Food Storage … It’s not my fault

My sister got me onto the Everyday Food Storage site – which I probably didn’t need and isn’t helping my ever increasing pile of food in the basement. So I suppose that yes, I am a bit fanatic, because it’s sooo useful. The good part, too, is that that now I’m actually starting to use [...]

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